Fallen
by It's Almost A Secret
Summary: Following the events on Earth-X, Alex and Kara are more than ready to return to their own earth. However, an unexpected malfunction takes them to a National City far different from the one they left, where Kara will face a threat unlike anything she's encountered before.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey all, this is just a little something I've been working on recently. I only have the first couple of chapters finished at the moment so I can't really make any promises about how frequently I'll update or if I will end up writing this to completion. That's always my intention when I start a story but regrettably I don't always follow through. Still, I'm going to do my best with this one. I already have the whole story planned out in my head, it's just a matter of writing it all down.**

 **Anyway I don't really want to say anything else about it up front. The story takes place directly following the events of Crisis on Earth-X. Enjoy!**

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"Well I think that was quite enough excitement for one vacation," Alex said, falling into stride next to her sister. They'd just parted ways with Barry, Oliver, and the rest of the gang from Earth 1 after a rather eventful wedding celebration.

"I don't know, I for one find punching Nazis extremely relaxing," Kara replied, turning to shoot Alex a bright smile.

"Easy for you to say," Alex responded, "They just bounce right off your firsts when you hit them. Try having human hands. Punching skulls _hurts."_

"You and Sara seemed to be having a pretty good time from where I was standing," Kara said, wearing a smirk.

Alex could already feel the color rising in her face at the mention of the blond assassin's name. She was irritated with herself for having such a schoolgirl reaction. Kara, on the other hand, seemed to take this as bait to continue torturing her sister.

"Sara and Alex sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-," she started to sing.

Alex cut her off. "Oh my god Kara, seriously?" she said. There was a note of frustration to her voice but she was smiling. "Please just tell me you're not going to rope Winn and J'onn into torturing me about this when we get home."

"Are you kidding?" Kara replied, "That's, like, pretty much the first thing I plan to do when we get back."

Alex threw her head back and groaned, "This was definitely not worth the amount of shit I'm going to be taking over it."

Kara smiled, "In all seriousness though, I'm glad we did this. It might not have been the weekend getaway we were hoping for, but it did at least manage to take our minds off of things."

Alex let out a laugh at this and said, "Leave it to you to look on the bright side of a nazi invasion."

Kara shrugged, "Nothing wrong with a little positivity."

"Well I for one am ready to go home. I'm sure my apartment has been lonely without me there to wallow in self pity," Alex said, taking Kara's dimension-hopping device out of her pocket.

"Very true," Kara responded. "And I'm sure National City has been missing it's greatest hero," she said with an exaggerated flourish, putting her hands on her hips in her trademark superhero pose.

Alex rolled her eyes as she handed the device to Kara. "Your modesty is charming," she deadpanned.

Kara just flashed another smile as she took the device from her sister. She clicked it, expecting the familiar portal back to her own earth to appear, but nothing happened.

"Huh, that's weird," Kara said, turning the device over in her hands.

"Is something wrong?" Alex asked.

"Maybe it was damaged at some point during all of the fighting," Kara said, smacking the device against her free hand. There were few sparks and a strange grinding sound, and a few moments later a portal sputtered to life. "Oh, there we go," she chirped, "Problem solved."

With that Kara scooped Alex up bridal style and leapt through the portal. There was a brief, familiar feeling like flying through cold water before the scenery changed and they were flying through the skies of National City.

It took only a few moments before a nagging feeling in the back of Kara's mind told her something wasn't quite right. She slowed and came to a stop in midair before addressing her sister, "Hey Alex, is it just me or does something not feel right here?"

Alex glanced around and immediately took her sister's meaning. There was no question that they had returned to National City, but there was something off about it. Many of the surrounding buildings looked damaged or abandoned, and several others had collapsed to rubble. It was the middle of the day but there were almost no cars on the road, and even fewer pedestrians walking about. It looked like a post-apocalyptic version of the city they knew.

"What happened here?" Kara asked, a nervous edge creeping into her voice, "We were only gone for a couple of days."

Alex was beginning to feel uneasy as well, "We need to get to the DEO and find J'onn and the others."

"Right," Kara said, and resumed her flight at increased speed. It only took them less than a minute to arrive, but when they did they were met with yet another unpleasant surprise.

"Oh no," Kara breathed, floating above the remains of what had once been the DEO headquarters. All that was left was a pile of rubble and shattered glass.

"This is bad," Alex said. She could feel her heart rate increasing. "Whoever or whatever did this is clearly a very real threat."

Kara found herself floating down towards the ground and into the heart of the rubble that had once been the DEO. She could hear the tinkle of glass crunching under her boots as she set them on the ground. Alex climbed down from her sister's arms and immediately set to examining the scattered remains of the building.

While Alex was doing this, Kara honed in on her super hearing. As she'd suspected, the city was oddly quiet. She was used to the mingled sounds of cars, sirens, conversations and foot traffic, but these sounds were notably absent in the stillness of the afternoon.

"This is strange," Alex mumbled from where she was crouching. Kara shifted her attention and moved to stand beside her sister.

"What is it?" she asked, looking down at a piece of glass that Alex was turning between her fingers.

"Well this rubble looks like it's far more than a couple of days old. A lot of it has started to mold or break down. It's been this way for a significant amount of time.

"But we were just here a couple of days ago," Kara said, lost in thought. "So what does this mean? Have we somehow traveled through time?"

Alex shook her head and stood up, brushing her hands together to clear off the dirt. "That shouldn't be possible though," she said, "That device that Barry gave you is only meant to cross the barrier between our world and his. It shouldn't have the capability for time travel."

"Well whatever is going on here," Kara said, "We need to get some answers. Fast."

Alex nodded and draped her arms around Kara's shoulders as they once again took to the air. This time Kara changed directions and flew back towards one of the city's major roads. It was still nearly deserted, but here there were a few people traversing the sidewalks at a brisk pace. Kara swooped down and landed, intending to pump some of the civilians for information, but was instead met with her third surprise in as many minutes.

At the sight of Kara, every person on the street went into a full-blown panic. People who had been walking along moments before now ran sprinting in the opposite direction, some of them screaming as they went. Kara just stood, dumbfounded and still holding her sister, as everyone around her fled in terror.

It was Alex who broke Kara out of her stupor. She tapped Kara's shoulder as a sign that she wanted to be let down. Shaking her head, Kara set her sister on her feet and then put on a quick burst of super speed to catch up with the nearest terrified pedestrian.

It was a mother with her young daughter in her arms. The woman was sprinting, but as Kara laid a hand on her shoulder, the woman collapsed into a heap on the ground, sobbing and clutching the little girl close.

"Please," she choked, tears streaming down her face, "Please just spare my daughter. She's only 4 years old."

Kara took a step back, completely caught off guard by the woman's outburst. The little girl looked up to meet Kara's eyes, then yelped in fright and hid her face in her mother's shirt.

Kara was so preoccupied with the strange responses she was eliciting that she was not paying the least bit of attention to the world around her. It wasn't until she heard Alex shout, "Supergirl, watch out!" from some distance away that she turned to survey the scene around her.

At some point a black van had appeared on the street, and a number of soldiers in strange grey armor were pouring out of it to surround Kara. Alex was running towards them shouting as they all began to train their weapons on the kryptonian.

The woman who had been cowering on the ground before Kara seemed to take the momentary distraction as an opportunity to flee. Scooping up her daughter, she sprinted away down the street in the opposite direction.

Kara, noticing the woman's exit, turned back to her with her arm outstretched and yelled, "Hey, wait!" just as she was struck from behind with a powerful blast.

Kara was dazed for a moment before she felt the familiar effects of kryptonite sapping her energy. Her vision was swimming as she lost her balance and sank down to one knee.

Her ears were ringing now and the soldiers with guns were closing in on her. She could still hear Alex calling for her as the last of her energy left her and she slumped over onto her side.


	2. Chapter 2

Hello again and thanks very much for the enthusiastic response to the first chapter! I'm glad people are interested in seeing where this goes. So this chapter's a bit on the short side and I apologize for that, but I felt this was the best place to stop for now. The following chapters will be on the longer side, I promise. Enjoy!

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Kara was fighting with all of her might not to lose consciousness as the strange group of armed soldiers closed in around her.

"Why are you dressed like that?" a male voice demanded. Kara felt the cold metal of a gun's muzzle press against the side of her head. "Is this some kind of trick?"

Kara was too weak to answer but she tried to push herself up onto her elbows. In response a heavy blow came down on her head, knocking her back to the ground. Still significantly weakened by the kryptonite, she collapsed under the weight of the assault. She could feel the heal of a boot pressing into her back.

"Stay down," an angry male voice demanded. Kara's head was splitting and her entire existence had boiled down to a blur of pain and confusion. She obeyed the order.

From somewhere nearby, Kara heard her sister's voice. "Get off of her!" Alex shouted, grabbing the gun from the nearest soldier and using it to hit him squarely in the face. The soldier crumpled to the ground in a heap, clutching his nose, but two of the others rounded on Alex, tearing the gun from her hands and grabbing her arms.

Alex continued to struggle against the soldiers' hold, but her appearance seemed to have provided a much needed distraction. Kara sucked in a breath as she felt the weight of a boot disappear off of her back. She could feel a small amount of her strength returning and managed to push herself up onto her knees, breathing heavily.

The soldier that had been threatening Kara a moment ago had turned to face the commotion. He seemed to have been caught off guard.

"Alex?" he said, his voice holding a clear note of confusion.

At the sound of her name Alex stopped struggling and turned to face the soldier who had uttered it. The two soldiers who had been holding Alex's arms released them and also turned to look towards the one who had addressed her.

"How is that possible?" the soldier asked. He dropped his gun to his side, clearly forgetting about Kara for the time being, and removed his helmet.

"Winn?" Alex gasped. Kara followed her gaze to the soldier's face and also let out a gasp.

The face under the helmet was in fact Winn's, but at the same time it wasn't. He looked like a Winn who been to hell and back. The right side of his face was almost completely dominated by the scars of what seemed to have once been a particularly angry burn mark. An eye patch covered his right eye and the hair on that side of his head was nothing but a patchy stubble. His remaining eye looked haunted, and was ringed by dark, tired bags. He was looking at Alex as though he was seeing a ghost.

Kara staggered to her feet and Winn, seeming to just remember her presence, turned and trained his gun on her again. His left eye showed deep confusion and uncertainty.

Kara put up her hands defensively, "Winn, what the hell is going on?"

The rest of the soldiers had started to converge on Kara and Alex by this point but Winn held up a hand to them and they all froze in place.

"Shit! Shit!" Winn said, clearly beginning to lose his composure, "Just give me a minute to think." He turned around to face Alex, "Where did you come from? How are you here?"

"Winn, what are you talking about?" Alex asked, taking a step forward, "Why do you seem so shocked to see me?

"Because you're supposed to be dead!" he shouted, his voice breaking as he once again dropped his gun to his side.

There was a moment of complete silence following this outburst. Alex looked as though someone had slapped her, and she was staring at Winn in complete disbelief. No one moved for what seemed like an eternity.

"Oh my god," Kara said, breaking the silence as a wave of realization broke over her, "We're on the wrong earth."

Everyone turned to face Kara at this. Winn focused his attention on her again. "What did you say?" he barked, eyeing her warily.

Kara put her hands up in front of her in a non-threatening gesture. "We were travelling between dimensions, coming from a parallel reality. We were supposed to go back to our earth, to our version of National City, but I think our portal malfunctioned and we ended up here."

"Sir?" one of the other soldiers, a female, addressed Winn with uncertainty, clearly unsettled by his loss of composure. Winn ignored her.

He was still looking at Kara with distrust, but his angry expression had softened to one of disbelief. "So what are you trying to tell me? That you're- you're her but from another reality?"

"Yes," Kara breathed, relief starting to flood her now that it appeared she might be getting through to Winn, "Neither of us is supposed to be here."

"Sir, you aren't really going to trust her are you?" one of the other soldiers asked, an incredulous tone to his voice, "This could be some kind of trick!" He had his gun trained on Kara and she could see the faint green glow coming from the barrel.

Winn was staring intently into Kara's eyes now, almost as though he were searching for something. After a moment he lowered his gun. "No," he said slowly, shaking his head, "No, I don't think it is. Look at her."

The other soldiers inched closer, bracing as though they expected Kara to leap out and attack them at any moment.

"She looks just like she did in the old days," one of them breathed, voice heavy with disbelief.

Kara was becoming steadily more uncomfortable with each passing second. She was confused and still aching from the earlier attack and now she felt like a zoo animal on display. "Will someone please explain to me what exactly is going on right now?"

Winn let out a sigh and raked a hand through his remaining hair. He ignored Kara's question and addressed the soldiers that he was apparently in command of. "Don't you realize what this means?" he said to them, "This could mean hope."

The soldiers seemed to have relaxed their guard slightly, transitioning from wary to curious. One by one they began to remove their helmets. Kara didn't recognize any of their faces, but she was struck by how young some of them were. A handful could still be in high school.

Now that the action had settled down, she could see that the armor they wore was extremely makeshift. It looked like it had been fashioned together in a garage or a basement laboratory. The pieces were mismatched and fashioned out of different materials, though they seemed held together well enough. Despite this, their guns seemed curiously state-of-the-art in comparison to the rest of their ensemble. Kara ignored this for the moment, still intent on getting some answers.

"Hope of what?" Kara asked, throwing her arms up in frustration. She was growing annoyed that no one seemed to want to explain any of this to her.

At her sudden outburst, all of the soldiers but Winn took a sudden, nervous step backwards. Winn looked her dead in the eyes, his face the most serious she'd ever seen on her normally goofy friend.

"Defeating Supergirl"


	3. Chapter 3

So here's the third chapter. Thanks again for everyone who read and reviewed! Not much to say here. I promise I'll explain what exactly is going one eventually. Enjoy!

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There wasn't much time at all for Kara to fully process Winn's words. Before she could ask further questions he had turned and started barking orders at his soldiers.

"Ok let's go! We need to get off the street. The longer we spend standing around the more attention we're attracting. Everyone get back in the van."

Winn turned back to face Kara and Alex, who had by now gravitated to her sister's side and was helping to steady her.

"That includes you two," he said.

"Winn-" Alex began, using her best 'no nonsense' voice, but Winn cut her off.

"There'll be time for explanations later but for now we need to get Kara out of here. We need to get her out of sight before _she_ finds out about her," Winn said. There was such an air of authority to his voice that neither Kara nor Alex bothered to argue. Begrudgingly, the two turned and started for the van.

From behind them, Kara could hear some of the other soldiers beginning to protest Winn's orders. They were keeping their voices to low, urgent whispers but Kara, whose powers were slowly returning, could still hear them.

"Schott you can't be serious," came a male voice, "I know that you have some kind of- of history or something with her, but you can't honestly-"

Winn, who seemed to have been expecting this type of backlash, cut the man off and shot back, "Listen to me, have I ever done anything that could jeopardize this organization?" He paused a moment as though waiting for someone to offer an example, but they all remained silent.

After a moment he continued, "I am asking you, all of you, to just trust me on this one, because this may be our only chance to change things. We have spent the past year and a half hiding in our hole in the ground and just trying to survive. She," he paused to gesture towards Kara, "May actually be able to help us accomplish something."

There was a pause while they seemed to consider Winn's words, before another soldier said, "And what if she turns on us too? What then?"

Winn didn't miss a beat, "Well then I guess we're completely screwed, but at least we'll be able to say we tried."

That appeared to effectively end the conversation for most of the others and Winn seemed to know it. "Now," he continued, "If anyone has any further complaints we can discuss them later but I'm making the call on this one. Anyone who has a problem with it can walk away now, no questions asked."

Several of the soldiers exchanged looks but no one budged.

"Ok then," Winn said, replacing his helmet, "Let's get moving."

Kara and Alex had reached the back of the van by this point, but Kara had been stalling in order to eavesdrop. At the conclusion of the conversation, she started forward again and she and Alex hoisted themselves into the van.

There was a row of benches against either wall and Alex and Kara took a seat on one of them. Kara had her arms wrapped tightly around herself. She was only just beginning to piece things together but, even with the limited information she'd received so far, she'd gathered that Supergirl was not exactly viewed as a hero in this version of National City. She had a feeling that when further explanations did present themselves, she wasn't going to like what she heard.

Kara's thoughts were cut short as Winn and seven other people packed their way into the cramped van, while another two climbed into the front seats and started the vehicle. Kara could feel several wary gazes fixed on her even though all of the soldiers had replaced their helmets. They rode in silence for a while. Alex said nothing but kept a firm hold on one of Kara's hands, somehow sensing that her sister needed the comfort.

Kara, for her part, still wasn't feeling quite back to normal. Her entire body still radiated with the dull ache caused by exposure to kryptonite and she was focusing all of her efforts on not being sick. Something on her face must have showed her discomfort because Winn spoke from beside her.

"Sorry," he said, reaching under his shirt collar to reveal a long, jagged piece of kryptonite on a silver chain, "I almost forgot about this." He reached into one of his pockets and removed a silver case. He opened it and slipped the kryptonite inside, where it fit snuggly into a pre-formed indentation. Kara assumed the case must be lined with lead, because when Winn snapped it closed she felt better almost instantly.

Feeling the pain and weakness recede, she smiled gratefully. "Thank you," she said, sitting up a little straighter. She didn't ask any questions about the kryptonite and neither did Alex, though Kara could almost feel the disapproving gaze her sister was shooting at Winn. No further remark was uttered for the rest of their journey.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the van pulled up to what appeared to be an abandoned parking garage. They made their way inside and drove until they came to a metal grate on the far side of the room.

"Are we clear?" the driver asked the soldier sitting in the passenger seat, who seemed to be studying some sort of device. She didn't answer for a moment, but there was a beeping noise from the device in her hand and she responded with a quick, "Yes."

With this affirmation, the driver hit a button on the van's rear-view mirror and the grate ahead of them slowly cranked to life, revealing a steep incline heading down into darkness. The van eased over the threshold and the grate slowly began to descend behind them.

As they drove on through the darkness, Winn finally spoke again, "Ok as of right now this entire situation becomes completely confidential. I don't want to hear any of you breathing a word of this to anyone not presently in this van until we have time to fully assess the situation."

"You can't be serious," came the incredulous reply form the solider sitting across from Winn, "What do you think is going to happen the minute she steps out of this van? It's going to be chaos."

Winn shook his head, "Not if no one recognizes her." He turned to address Kara, "From now on you are in full Kara Danvers mode. No more Supergirl until further notice."

Kara stared at Winn for a moment, her mouth agape at his casual mention of her secret identity. Winn seemed to realize what was causing her reaction and said, "No need to worry about being found out. On our earth Kara Danvers is dead."

With that Winn opened the van's back doors and hopped out. The other soldiers hesitated only a moment, some casting last glances towards Kara, before following him out. Kara hung back with some reluctance in order to change back into her normal clothing. She was still uneasy about this earth and her lack of knowledge of it, but she was willing to trust this Winn's judgment for the time being at least. With a superspeed twirl she was back in her skirt and cardigan and had folded her Supergirl suit and handed it off to Alex for safekeeping in her knapsack.

Kara emerged from the van a few moments later, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. The soldiers who were still lingering around had removed their helmets once more and were gaping at her change in clothing with open-mouthed shock. Kara fidgeted uncomfortably under their gaze. With a pointed look from Winn, who had hung back and was leaning against the side of the van, the soldiers all turned and walked off.

"Damn," Winn said, looking Kara up and down with an unreadable look on his face, "This is a blast from the past."

With that he moved past Kara and Alex and gestured for them to follow. Looking around, Kara could see they were in what served as a sort of parking garage. The van they had traveled in and several others like it were parked around the room. As they followed Winn, he led them out into the main area of what appeared to be a very makeshift base of operations.

There were a dozen or so people milling around the small room that apparently served as a central control area. Three screens hung in a row on the right wall, an outlined map of the city projected across them. Three outdated computer monitors sat below this, each occupied by a person typing furiously away at the keyboard. Several suits of armor like the one Winn was wearing hung on the wall to the left, a helmet accompanying each one. There was a large, square table in the center of the room, its surface almost completely obscured by maps and papers.

Kara and Alex walked into the room after Winn and several heads turned at their presence.

"Listen up," Winn shouted to this new audience, "Say hello to Alex and Kara Danvers, our two newest recruits. They're both former DEO members with valuable intel and combat experience. There'll be time for further introductions later but for now make them feel as welcome as possible."

At this several heads nodded towards Kara and Alex in acknowledgement and then turned back to the tasks at hand. Kara could see one of the soldiers from earlier, a young man in his mid-twenties with sandy brown hair, shaking his head disapprovingly from the far corner of the room. He lingered for only a moment before disappearing around the corner without a word. None of the others who already knew her secret appeared to be present.

A woman with wavy brown hair and a stern expression was approaching them now at a brisk pace. Winn nodded his head at her as she drew closer and Kara heard her sister's breath hitch from somewhere beside her.

"This is Agent Maggie Sawyer," Winn said to Alex and Kara, "former NCPD." Kara glanced back and forth between this world's Maggie and her sister. Alex's eyes were wide and her mouth was open in shock. After a moment she seemed to remember herself and her expression became neutral. If Winn or Maggie noticed Alex's strange behavior, neither of them mentioned it.

"Schott what happened out there?" Maggie demanded. Like this world's Winn she looked more tired and haggard than the Maggie they knew. She wore a tattered pair of black sweatpants and a sweater that was a size or two too large for her. Despite her mismatched garb, she still managed to be an imposing presence.

"Things didn't exactly go according to plan," Winn responded.

Maggie seemed irritated by this vague response. "Where is she?" she asked, before turning to eye Alex and Kara with obvious distrust, "And where did these two come from?"

"Unclear," Winn answered in response to Maggie's first question, "We followed the signal but if she was in National City then she was long gone by the time we arrived on the scene."

Maggie seemed confused by this, "That's highly unusual. She's never made an appearance before without making herself known."

"It's possible the scanners picked up something else, or that there was some kind of malfunction," Winn said, "I'll run some diagnostics and look into it."

Maggie nodded, "Make sure that you do. We need the scanners functioning. We can't afford to be caught off guard." She turned to look towards Alex and Kara as though awaiting an explanation. Winn followed her gaze.

"Ah right. Sawyer, meet Alex and Kara Danvers. They're former DEO agents and actually friends of mine from the old days," he said, "I didn't even know they were still alive. They got wind of what we do here and approached our van at the mission site. It's a very fortunate coincidence that we all ran into each other."

Alex and Kara exchanged a look but said nothing to deny Winn's story. Maggie was still looking Alex and Kara up and down but seemed to have been put at ease by Winn's endorsement. She shook each of their hands in turn and said, "Well we can certainly use all the help we can get. I look forward to working with you both." She turned back to face Winn and said, "And Schott, do not forget to run those diagnostics," before turning and walking off again.

Winn watched Maggie's retreating back for a moment before turning back to face Alex and Kara. Alex was staring after Maggie with an unreadable expression on her face. This time Winn seemed to notice that Alex was acting strangely.

Looking back and forth between Maggie and Alex, he asked, "Do you know her or something?"

Alex snapped her eyes away from Maggie and turned back to face him. Her face flushed slightly and she seemed reluctant to answer the question. After a moment she simply said, "That's…a very complicated question.

Winn merely shrugged, clearly not interested in pushing the issue, and started walking again. Alex reached out to grab his shoulder before he could get too far and said, "Wait, Winn, what is this place?"

Winn turned back to face her. "Oh right," he said, gesturing out at the control room, "Welcome to the new DEO."


	4. Chapter 4

Hello again and thanks again to everyone who read and reviewed and everyone following the story so far! So there are going to be some explanations this chapter and I would really love some feedback. Was I subtle at all? Did you figure it out beforehand or did I manage to surprise anyone? What are your thoughts on it? Anyway without further delay, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!

* * *

"Welcome to the new DEO," Winn said, gesturing around the room. He paused for a moment as if to let his words sink in before he turned to continue walking.

This time Kara grabbed his shoulder to stop him, "Winn, I really, _really_ need for you to explain to me what the hell is going on here."

Winn sighed. "That," he said, "Is a very, very long story. But I guess I do owe you some sort of explanation at this point." Glancing around as though to make sure no one was eavesdropping on their conversation, he gestured for Kara and Alex to follow him once more.

They crossed the remaining distance of the main control room to a hallway on the far side. As they made their way down the hall, Kara could see echoes of the DEO she knew. There was a disorganized med-bay in which a sleeping man was hooked up to an array of beeping monitors, a training area with a variety of hand-to-hand combat weapons lining the walls, and a room with what appeared to be holding cells. All of these appeared to be slightly ramshackle versions of their more high-tech counterparts on Earth 38. Finally, Winn opened a door at the far end of the hallway and ushered Kara and Alex inside.

This room appeared to be some sort of small office. There was another computer here, sitting on a desk that was covered in disorganized paperwork. There was a single computer chair and a small end table that was strewn with dirty dishes. Once they were inside, Winn closed the door quietly behind them.

There was a moment of brief silence in which the three of them merely stared at each other.

It was Winn who broke the silence. "Man," he breathed, "You have got to realize how weird it is for me to be standing here looking at the two of you again."

Kara spoke softly, "Winn, what happened here?"

Winn let out a sigh. "I'm not sure how things happened on the earth you're from. On this earth Kara Danvers and I were friends before she ever became Supergirl. We both worked at Catco."

Kara nodded at this, "That's the same as on our earth, yeah."

Winn nodded and continued, "This earth's Kara came out as Supergirl a couple of years ago. You," he nodded towards Alex, "were on a crashing plane and she outed herself to save you."

This time Alex spoke, "That happened the same way as well."

"Okay so you know the story up to that point then," Winn said. "Everything was fine for a while. Kara was a superhero, you worked at the DEO, James Olsen- do you know James Olsen?" Winn paused to ask. At Kara's nod he continued, "James and I were helping Kara out. It was all great, buddy buddy superfriends stuff."

At this point Winn paused again as though awaiting questions. When none came he went on, "Then, a few months after that something happened. Kara was exposed to a substance. It was some sort of man-made kryptonite. It…did something to her."

At this Kara's eyes widened and she said, "Red kryptonite."

Winn's eyes shot up at this, "You've heard of it then?"

"Yeah," Kara said uneasily, "I was exposed to it on my earth too. It changed me, made me angry and cruel. I…did a lot of things I regret." Kara could feel Alex's sympathetic gaze but kept her eyes fixed pointedly on the floor.

"But then, wait," Winn said, confusion evident in his voice, "If the same thing happened on your earth how are you standing here looking all normal and not trying to kill me?"

"There was a cure," Alex cut in, sensing Kara's reluctance to talk about the issue, "Maxwell Lord was the one who created the red kryptonite in the first place. He and I worked together to make a cure and we used it on Kara before she went too out of control."

At this information Winn let out a shaky breath and sank back into the chair near the computer desk, his head in his hands. He stayed like this for a moment before he looked up at them and spoke slowly, "So you're telling me that there is a way to cure this."

Kara and Alex exchanged a look. "Wait," Kara said, "Are you saying that on this earth Supergirl- I was never cured of the red kryptonite poisoning?"

Winn let out a low, bitter laugh. "No," he said, "On this earth red kryptonite was the beginning of the end."

Kara felt as though the wind was knocked out of her chest at this. She remembered the effects of the red kryptonite all too clearly. She remembered being petty, resentful, angry, and finally turning violent. She remembered the rage and how she had been powerless to stop it. On her earth she had only been under the red kryptonite's influence for a few days. On this earth…

"How long?" she finally managed to ask, bringing her eyes up from the floor to meet Winn's.

"Almost two years," he responded.

"Oh my god," Kara responded, bringing her hand up to her mouth. Alex also seemed to grasp the severity of the situation and leaned against the wall behind her as though she was suddenly having trouble supporting her own weight.

"Yeah," Winn said, "We tried to stop her at first too. You," he said, nodding towards Alex, "and Lord tried to make a cure. You and Hank Henshaw confronted her one night when she first became violent. You had a blaster that you needed to hit her with but before you could do it she…"

"She killed her," Kara said gravely. She remembered that night. She remembered how she had been ready to kill Alex in cold blood and how she probably would have if J'onn hadn't stopped her, if he'd been a second too late.

Winn nodded, "She killed Alex and she destroyed the cure. Hank tried to stop her but it was too late. The two of them fought afterwards, Hank revealed himself to be an alien and they flew out of the city. Supergirl returned later by herself. I don't…we never found out what happened to him."

Kara and Alex were staring at him now with rapt attention. Winn took another shaky breath and went on, "The days following that night are kind of a blur. Supergirl killed anyone who offered even the slightest opposition. She killed Maxwell Lord to make sure he wouldn't manufacture another cure. She killed Cat Grant when Cat continued to speak out against her in the media."

Winn paused again, apparently trying to get his thoughts straight, "James and I, we tried to fight back too. James had this crazy idea to become a vigilante. He called himself Guardian. The two of us tried to keep people safe, keep them out of harm's way during Supergirl's attacks. We kept at it for a couple of months before she caught up with us. By that point she was…unrecognizable. James protected me. He distracted her enough that I got away with just this," he gestured to the ruined right side of his face. "James he…didn't make it."

Kara still had her hand clamped over her mouth at this point but she couldn't prevent the stray tears that were beginning to stream down the side of her face. Even though this was a different earth, even though it wasn't her, Kara knew it could have been. The knowledge that it was even possible that she could kill so many people she cared about, that she was capable of such terrible things…. It was almost more than she could bear to even think about.

After a moment she wiped her eyes and said, "What about my cousin? What about-"

Winn cut her off, "Superman tried to stop her too. When she first began targeting civilians and causing destruction, he came. He tried to reason with her first but she was too far gone by then. They fought but…. The red kryptonite, it gives her some sort of immunity to the normal green kind. She used that advantage against Superman. They fought for hours, first in the city and then they disappeared. No one has heard from him in over a year. When Supergirl came back, she proclaimed herself the last true kryptonian. She never went into specifics."

Winn looked up at Kara to see how she was doing. After a moment she nodded for him to continue. "After what happened to James that night, I ran. I had nowhere to go. She was looking for me and she'd already killed all of my allies. She'd destroyed the DEO headquarters within the first month, but I went back to see what I could salvage. I grabbed what I could and went underground. I recruited others who were alone and scared and wanted to fight back. We eventually built this place."

Alex, clearly trying to steer around the more unsavory parts of Winn's tale, asked, "You did all of this yourself?"

Winn shook his head and laughed ruefully. "Not exactly," he said, "After all this happened, help came from the last place I ever expected. Everyone knew that Lex Luthor was a madman, but after Supergirl went crazy it suddenly started to seem like he was making sense."

"Lex Luthor has been helping you fight against Supergirl then?" Kara asked, unable to keep a tinge of bitterness from creeping into her voice.

Winn shook his head, "After they released him from prison Lex began to lead the fight in Metropolis. It's his sister who's been helping us here in National City."

At this Kara let out a gasp, "Lena."

Winn looked at her curiously. "Right, Lena Luthor. I didn't think she and Kara had ever met before all of this happened."

Kara shook her head, "We didn't. She moved to National City shortly after all of this happened on my earth."

Winn nodded, "Well she's been invaluable to our cause. Her brother was the leading mind in anti-kryptonian technology. She's the one who provided almost all of the equipment we use here at the DEO. The Kryptonite blasters, like the one I shot you with when you first got here, those are Luthor Corp technology. They use a small amount of kryptonite but release the radiation at maximum potency. I told you that this world's Supergirl has a resistance to Kryptonite. Even these weapons don't really hurt her anymore, but if we catch her off guard they can be enough to stun her."

Kara shuddered. Just one hit from one of those blasters had been enough to incapacitate her for several minutes. She couldn't imagine them hardly having an effect on her counterpart in this world.

"But if she's as powerful as you say, why is National City still standing? You make it sound as though she's unstoppable, but despite the ruined buildings there are still people living here," Alex said.

"She's toying with us," Winn said bitterly, "She finds it more fun to play with us than to wipe us out. National City and Metropolis are two of the last cities in the world still standing that haven't turned to worshipping Supergirl as a god. She keeps us around because we put up just enough of a fight to be amusing. She leaves us alone just long enough for us to rebuild a little, create new weapons, and then she sweeps in and nearly wipes us out. She leaves just enough that we can rebuild until she decides it's time to remind us where we stand."

Kara took a deep, shaky breath, her mind still reeling from everything she'd just heard. "Ok," she said finally, "How can I help?


	5. Chapter 5

Sorry for the wait, I haven't had as much time to write recently. Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! Always nice to hear people's thoughts on what's going on. Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

"How can I help?"

Winn stared a Kara for a few moments, looking her up and down as though studying her, before he let out a chuckle.

"I'm serious, Winn," Kara said, frowning.

"It's not that," Winn responded, rising slowly from the desk chair, "You just can't possibly imagine how strange it is to see you like this again, to see you ready to help people. I can hardly remember a time when Supergirl was symbol of hope and not of destruction."

"Then _let_ me help," Kara said, sounding almost desperate. She felt so passionately that this was somehow her fault, that, even though she hadn't personally caused this world's devastation, she needed to be the one to set things right, "I know I don't technically belong on this world, but now that I'm here maybe I can make a difference."

Winn shook his head. "The best thing you can do for the time being is lay low until we can come up with a plan. We don't need word of your being here getting out before we decide our next move," he said

"If words gets out and she comes for me then I'll fight her," Kara said, fists curling in determination, "I'm going to have to fight her eventually. You said yourself that I may be the only hope of changing things."

"I'm not worried about her finding out about you," Winn said softly, "I'm worried about the other DEO members, about the people of National City, finding out."

Kara had not been expecting this. "What?" she asked, incredulous.

"Listen to me," Winn sighed, "You cannot possibly understand what Supergirl means in this world. She has taken _everything_ from us, and there are very few people who really understand what happened to her. The agents that were with me when we brought you in are my most trusted unit. I know that I can rely on them to follow orders and keep your identity a secret, at least for now, but even they are extremely skeptical about all of this. If you reveal yourself as Supergirl, people won't be relieved or grateful for your help. They will be _terrified_ of you."

Kara took a moment to let this sink in. It was a difficult thing to wrap her head around. "So…so what then?" she asked, "You just expect me to stand by and watch while the me on this world continues to terrorize people?"

"That's not what I'm saying," Winn replied, trying to keep the frustration out of his voice, "I just think we need to take a step back and think here. We need to decide on the best way to use you, because once your identity is out there we may not get another shot."

Alex, who had been silent up until now, spoke up, "What if we cure her?"

Winn turned to face her. "We've tried to come up with a cure," he said, "But with Lord dead we have no way of fully understanding the way the red kryptonite works. It's too risky to try a cure on her without knowing for sure what effect it will have on her."

Alex stepped forward. "Lord wasn't the only one who understood the red kryptonite," she said, "On my world we worked together to create the cure that saved Kara. I can replicate it if you can get me the necessary materials."

Winn was staring at her in wide-eyed wonderment now. He opened and closed his mouth a few times as though trying to remember how to speak. "So you're telling me," he finally managed, "That you can manufacture a cure that's pretty much guaranteed to work?"

"Well I would have to increase the potency, assuming that the red kryptonite's effect will be stronger due to the longer time period," Alex said, "But with the necessary modifications I don't see why it wouldn't work the same way it did on our earth."

At this Winn's face broke into a beaming smile. It was the first true smile either of them had seen on this version of their friend since they'd met him. "Alex Danvers," he said, "I have missed that big, beautiful brain of yours."

Kara, on the other hand, didn't share Winn's enthusiasm for this plan. She remembered how she'd felt when she'd awakened from her own red kryptonite-fueled rampage. She remembered the horror and shame at the realization that she'd injured her sister and frightened the people of National City. What would she have done if she'd awakened to the knowledge that she'd killed her sister and almost every other person that was important to her? That she'd nearly destroyed the planet she'd once dedicated her life to protecting?

"It might be kinder to kill her," Kara said, her voice barely above a whisper.

Alex and Winn turned to stare at her, clearly taken aback by this declaration. "That may be true," Winn said after a moment, appearing to gauge Kara's meaning, "But unfortunately a cure might be the best we can manage."

Kara nodded with some reluctance. She knew they would never understand her apprehension at this plan. They would never understand the feeling of having your entire personality altered against your will. It wasn't that she condoned this Supergirl or anything she'd done, but she knew the Kara of this world would find her actions just as abhorrent once she was back in her right mind.

Kara broke herself from her thoughts to find that Alex and Winn had already turned back to discussing their plan. "So what kind of materials are we talking?" Winn asked, a newfound eagerness in his voice, "The lab and equipment we have here aren't anything fancy, but we'll do whatever we have to do to make this work."

"It's nothing too complicated," Alex responded, "Mostly just basic chem and tech stuff. I will need a sample of red kryptonite though."

Winn nodded. "That's going to be a bit complicated but it should be doable," he said, "I'll have to speak to Lena Luthor about it. She and her brother have the only existing samples. We made sure to secure and hide them before Supergirl could get to them."

"There's also the matter of making sure Kara doesn't get exposed," Alex said, casting a glance towards her sister.

"Absolutely," Winn said, eyes widening as he considered this possibility. He turned towards Kara, "If you get infected, it's pretty much game over."

Kara nodded gravely. She understood the severity of the situation.

"Alrighty then," Winn said, clapping his hands together, "This has been a really, really strange day and I still need to have another talk with my agents. Let me show you two where you'll be staying."

Alex and Kara exchanged a look but said nothing as they followed Winn out of the room and down another hallway. He stopped before a wooden door and pushed it open, revealing a long room lined on either side by a half a dozen bunk beds. About twenty of the beds looked to be in use, their covers strewn about haphazardly and speckled with the occupant's personal possessions. Despite these signs of life there was no one else in the room at present.

"Sorry I can't offer you anything more private," Winn apologized, "Unfortunately we're tight on space as it is."

"It's fine," Alex said, already headed towards one of the empty bunks at the far end of the room. Kara followed after her.

"Hey," Winn said, putting a hand on Kara's shoulder as she moved to walk away. She turned back around to face him, "For what it's worth, your being here is an amazing, wonderful thing. I know I've been weird around you and I'm sorry for that. I just wanted you to know."

Kara simply nodded at him, not sure what to say. Winn didn't seem to need any sort of further response, however, and after a moment he turned and left, shutting the door behind him. Kara watched the spot where he'd been for few seconds longer before turning and joining her sister across the room.

Now that they were alone, Kara could see how tired Alex looked. Kara imagined she herself didn't look much better. Alex looked up as Kara approached.

"Hey," she said gently, "How are you holding up?"

"I'm great," Kara said, flopping down onto the lower bunk, "We left a world where I was a nazi to come to one where I'm a psychotic murderer."

Alex sat down next to Kara. She draped an arm around her sister's shoulder and put Kara's head on her shoulder. Kara sighed and closed her eyes.

"Alex, in this world you- I-" she was struggling to get the words out. The dampness beginning to seep into the shoulder of Alex's shirt betrayed the tears that were beginning to stream silently down Kara's cheeks.

Alex rescued her sister from actually having to say the words. "You didn't do it," she said firmly, "That wasn't you"

"But it could have been," Kara said, throwing her arms around Alex, "I wasn't able to control myself under the effects of the red kryptonite, but I remember what it felt like. I remember how angry I was, how I didn't care about hurting people. I could have done it Alex. I know I could have."

"But you _didn't_ " Alex repeated. Kara's hug was too tight but she knew her sister needed the comfort at the moment so she didn't point this out. "Kara, you and the Kara on this world are not the same person. You cannot be beating yourself up for the things she's done, no matter how terrible they are. It's not going to solve anything."

Alex breathed in as Kara finally released her vice-like grip. "I know that," Kara said, "but Alex, it's so much harder to hate this world's Kara, because I _understand_ her. The nazi me, the one from Earth-X, she chose to be evil and cruel. She had free will and she made a decision. This world's Kara…she was robbed of that. She's doing the things she's doing because the red kryptonite altered her mind. That's just…really hard for me."

"I know," Alex said, rubbing Kara's back, "But we still have to stop her."

"You shouldn't stay here any longer than you have to," Kara said after a moment, "It's too dangerous. This DEO has a lab. Once you complete the cure you should repair the transport and go back to our earth."

Alex looked at Kara as though she were insane. "I am not leaving you here," she said, her tone left no room for argument.

Kara looked up to meet her sister's eyes. "Alex," she pleaded, "You're already dead on this earth. What if she finds out about you? I can't lose you."

Alex shook her head, "And I can't lose you. There's no way I'm leaving you here to fend for yourself. This world is dangerous for you in far more ways than one. I am not leaving you without an ally."

Alex knew Kara wanted to continue to protest, but Alex could already tell that she'd won. After a moment Kara sighed, "You're too stubborn," she said.

"Yeah," Alex responded, leaning over to bump gently against her sister's shoulder, "But I think you kind of love it."

There was silence for a moment before Kara spoke again. "So…Maggie's here," she said cautiously, glancing over at her sister. She'd almost forgotten the detective's surprise appearance in the wake of all of the information they'd just received.

Alex groaned at the reminder and flopped backwards onto the bed. "Ugh I know," she whined, "Nazi world was bad but at least it took my mind off of things. Now I'm going to be staying in 500 square foot bunker with an ex-girlfriend who's never even met me."

Kara smiled sadly at her sister. "She's not your Maggie," Kara reminded her.

"I know," Alex sighed, sitting up once more, "But it's kind of hard to remember that when she's standing right in front of me you know?"

"Yeah, I know," Kara responded, placing a hand on her sister's shoulder.

Alex placed her hand on her sister's for a moment, then said, "You know what's even more depressing?"

"What?" Kara asked.

"In this world I died still in the closet," Alex said with a small laugh. She was trying to make light of the whole terrible situation they'd found themselves in, but she could tell by the sadness still filling Kara's eyes that it hadn't quite worked.

There was another pause. Kara gave Alex a small smile before rising from the bed and removing her Supergirl suit from Alex's backpack. She looked at it for a moment. "I guess I won't be needing this for a while," she said, stashing the suit beneath the bed's mattress for safekeeping. Alex watched her sister with a sad smile. She knew what Supergirl meant to Kara.

Her suit safely hidden, Kara straightened up and turned back to her sister. They were silent for a few moments before Alex said, "So, do you want the top bunk or the bottom?"

"I'll take the top," Kara said. Then, glancing around to make sure the door to the room was still safely closed, she leapt up onto the top bunk in one smooth bound.

Neither Kara nor Alex knew what time it was, but both felt completely exhausted from the day's events. Kara in particular felt more drained than usual from her earlier exposure to Kryptonite.

"Get some sleep," Alex's voice drifted up from the lower bunk, "I know this world is bleak, but maybe things will seem better in the morning."

"Yeah…" Kara said doubtfully, pulling the bed's covers around herself. Despite her growing unease, she was asleep before her head hit the pillow.


	6. Chapter 6

There were no windows in the underground bunker, but Kara didn't need them to tell her that the sun was rising. She could feel it instinctively as she opened her eyes and found herself brimming with newfound energy. She tried to remain in bed for a while longer, sure that Alex would still be asleep for some time, but after a while her restlessness got the better of her and she climbed silently down the side of the bunk bed.

The room was dark now and filled with the sounds of soft breathing and the occasional snore. Most of the beds were occupied, presumably by the other female members of the DEO. They must have come in after Kara and Alex had already gone to sleep.

Kara hesitated for a moment, considering just climbing back into her bunk to wait out the time until the rest of the DEO's members were awake, but then she shook her head and crossed the room silently. The door creaked on its hinges as she opened it, but this didn't seem to disturb any of the room's sleeping occupants, and Kara closed it silently behind her.

She was back in the hallway they'd come down the night before, and paused a moment as she attempted to remember the direction they'd come from. She wasn't exactly sure where she was planning to go, but after a moment she turned left and headed back to the main control room.

The room was nearly empty now, but Kara was surprised to find Winn seated in a high backed chair and typing away at a computer. He turned to look at her as she approached.

"Up with the sun, huh?" he asked. Kara stole a glance at the clock on the computer screen. It was 6:23am.

"Did you sleep at all last night?" Kara asked. Winn looked even more exhausted than he had the day before, if that was even possible.

"For an hour or so," he said, turning back to whatever he was doing, "I don't really have time for sleep right now."

Kara glanced at what he was working on. It was the same outline of the city that was projected on the television monitors. There was a sort of flashing radar overlying the map.

"What are you working on?" Kara asked.

"I'm rewriting the program for our monitoring system," he said, continuing to type as he explained it to her, "This is the tracking system we use so we know when

Supergirl turns up in National City. It's how we tracked you down yesterday. We've got it keyed in to Supergirl's specific heat signature. You must have triggered it when you came to this earth."

Kara looked at the map again, it didn't appear to be picking up any signals at the moment. "It isn't registering me now."

"I did a complete manual override and shut the tracker off yesterday once I realized what was going on. It wouldn't have exactly made it easy to keep you a secret if everyone could see your location flashing on the monitors. It was risky but luckily our earth's Supergirl didn't show up during the time it was offline," Winn explained, "I'm editing it now so that it will pick up her signal but not yours. The red kryptonite causes her to give off a radiation signature that you don't. I'm going to have the system key into that instead so it won't register you."

"You always think of everything," Kara said, smiling.

"And we are… done," he said, pressing the enter key with a flourish.

"So what now?" Kara asked. She was still eager to help and hoped Winn had more information for her after speaking with his agents.

"I sent a message to Lena Luthor last night," he said, spinning his computer chair around to face her, "I told her we need her to bring the red kryptonite sample as soon as possible and that I'd explain it all when she arrived. She was due to make a supply drop later this week, but she's going to try to push that up to today if possible."

"What kind of supplies?" Kara asked, "Weapons?"

"Well yeah, but food and clothing and basic necessities too. Not only for us, but for all the remaining citizens of National City. It's almost impossible to get fresh food in the city these days. Some of the supermarkets still have stocks of canned and dry goods but moving supplies is extremely risky so they don't get frequent shipments. Supply trucks are one of Supergirl's favorite moving targets," Winn said.

"That's terrible," Kara said quietly.

"Luckily, money still counts for something. The Luthors are able to provide enough monetary incentive that people are willing to take the risk and bring supplies in about once a month," Winn explained.

"Why don't the people just leave the city?" Kara asked.

"There's not really anywhere to go," Winn said, "Supergirl has destroyed almost every major city on earth. They're ghost towns now. I already told you that she lets Metropolis and National City stand because she likes to toy with us, but there aren't a lot of other options. She lets people live if they bow down and worship her, build temples and statues to her and all that, but there's a lot of distance between each of those places and air travel isn't exactly an option anymore."

"I'm surprised she hasn't destroyed your base yet," Kara said, turning to look around the room.

"I'm sure she would if she could," Winn replied, "But luckily the Luthors helped build it. This entire base is lined in lead and coated with about 2 inches of Kryptonite on all sides. We depleted almost all of Lex's personal kryptonite reserves to build it. Even with her increased resistance, Supergirl is hesitant to get near that much of the green stuff."

Kara's eyes widened, "But I didn't feel anything when we came here yesterday."

Winn nodded and said, "Our vans are lined with lead as well. We don't want Supergirl to be able to x-ray inside and choose targets. Make sure that whenever you leave the base it's in one of those vans. If not, you won't be getting very far."

"Definitely good to know," Kara replied, slightly uneasy at the thought that she was surrounded on all sides by the only substance on earth that could kill her.

Other agents were beginning to file into the main control room now. Winn lowered his voice and spoke quickly.

"Another thing I forgot to mention, your clothes are unusually clean and well maintained. No one's said anything about it yet but if you keep it up you'll stick out. Most people only have one or two sets of clothes and we wear them until they're completely patchwork," Winn said.

Kara looked down at her clothes. She was still wearing the same outfit from yesterday. It wouldn't be any trouble to stick to one or two sets of clothes, since that was all she'd packed with her for her trip to Earth 1. "I'll see about putting some holes in these then."

"Lena will hopefully be here later today, and then we need to get you out of the base so Alex can analyze the red kryptonite sample," Winn said, "I'm going to have you go on the supply drop with some of the other agents so your leaving won't be suspicious."

Kara nodded, "That's fine by me. I'm starting to feel cooped up underground anyway."

"Ok we'll reconvene later then. Until then, just lay low. They should be serving breakfast in the mess hall around 8am," Winn said.

At the promise of food Kara's eyes lit up, "Breakfast would be great. We haven't really eaten since we left Earth 1."

Winn gave her an odd look at this but didn't press it. "Well I'll warn you that it's nothing fancy with the strict food rationing. But they might be a bit more generous today since we're getting our next supply drop early," he said.

"Oh don't worry, I'm definitely not picky when it comes to food," Kara said with a laugh.

"Yeah," Winn said, a strange expression crossing his face, "I think I remember that about you."

They stood, both smiling slightly, for a moment longer before Winn cleared his throat and spun his chair back around to face the computer. "Anyway," he said, shaking his head as though to clear it, "I need to get back to work, but I'll catch up with you and Alex later."

"Oh yeah, yeah sure," Kara stammered, taken aback by Winn's sudden change in demeanor, "I'll leave you to it then."

With that Kara turned away from Winn and headed back towards the hallway. She was so lost in though that she nearly collided with someone as she rounded a corner.

"Oh!" the other woman said, clearly surprised by the sudden appearance of another presence in the hall. She opened her mouth as though to apologize, but then stopped as she saw who it was she'd nearly walked into. Kara was confused by the reaction for a moment, before she recognized the other woman as one of the agents who had been present at her arrival yesterday.

"I-I'm sorry," the woman stammered, trying to regain her composure. She was one of the younger agents, no older than twenty.

"Oh no it was my fault," Kara said, her voice as cheery and non-threatening as she could manage. She pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, a nervous habit, and continued, "That was totally my fault."

The other woman looked as though she wanted to say something else but seemed unable to make herself speak. Kara waited a few moments longer, before deciding to break away from the awkwardness of the situation, "Well, I should-"

Before Kara could continue her journey down the hall, the other woman seemed to finally find her voice. "Hey uh, I just wanted to say," she said, keeping her voice low and glancing around as though to make sure no one could overhear, "I know General Schott trusts you but most of the rest of us don't. Some of the others think you're going to kill us all in our sleep."

Kara tried to keep her expression neutral. Winn had already told her the others would distrust or even fear her. She didn't know why this woman felt the need to rub salt in the wound.

As though sensing Kara's train of thought the woman stammered, "B-but I don't though. You look just like the old Supergirl, when you're in your costume I mean. And she- the old Supergirl, she saved my father's life once."

"Oh," Kara said, surprised by the sudden turn the conversation had taken but still markedly uncomfortable, "Well I'm glad I- or she, I guess, was able to help."

The woman nodded. "I just…wanted you to know that some of us, well me at least, I believe in you. I trust General Schott. I think you're probably our best hope."

Kara was surprised to find that the other woman's words affected her more than she would have expected. This might not be her world, but there were still real people here who were counting on her. She wasn't sure what to say. After a moment she came out with, "So uh, is your father a DEO member too?"

The girl looked awkward now, she turned her gaze down towards her shoes. "Oh no, uh, I haven't seen either of my parents since…well," she paused for a moment and continued, "I was away at college here in National City when… it happened. I'm originally from Arizona. I'm not- I haven't been able to get in touch with them since."

"Oh," Kara said, realizing that she'd put her foot in her mouth, "Oh I'm so sorry. I- I hope you see them again once this is all over."

The woman smiled sadly and said, "Yeah, me too." There was a pause and then she added, "I'm Anna by the way."

"Oh, Kara," Kara said, extending her hand, "nice to meet you."

"You too," Anna said, taking Kara's hand and giving it a quick shake. With that she turned and hurried down the hall to the control room.

Kara stared after her a moment, still a bit thrown by the suddenness of the strange encounter. After a moment she shook her head and continued towards the barracks to find her sister.


	7. Chapter 7

So it's been a while since I last updated, something I am sorry about. Life's been hectic but I have a bit of free time at the moment so I'm going to try to bang out at least another couple of chapters. The timing is a bit odd now since season 3 has just finished and this story is set further towards the beginning. The timeline hasn't changed though, so this story still takes place immediately following Crisis on Earth X and disregards anything that happened at the back half of the season. Enjoy!

* * *

Kara and Alex found a remote corner of the mess hall and set their aluminum trays down at the far end of an empty table. Winn hadn't been lying when he'd told Kara not to get too excited about the breakfast offerings. Each of their trays contained two slices of bacon, a flimsy piece of whole-wheat toast, and a scoop of mushy-looking yellow eggs that might have been engineered in some sort of lab. Still, Kara hadn't eaten in almost an entire day and even these meager portions were enough to start her stomach grumbling in anticipation.

They ate silently for a few moments, Kara shoveling eggs into her mouth as though she hadn't seen food in weeks. Alex watched her sister with an amused look on her face before placing one of her own strips of bacon onto her sister's plate.

Kara lowered her plastic fork long enough to reprimand her sister, "No Alex, you need to eat too."

Alex just gave Kara a smile. "Kara, I don't even like bacon," she said.

At this Kara's face twisted with indignation, "Yeah I know, something I will _never_ understand about you."

"Kara," Alex said, eyes narrowing slightly, "just take the bacon." She knew that Kara's concern for Alex's well being would override even her love of breakfast foods, but Kara needed the calories far more than Alex did, especially after her encounter with kryptonite the day before.

Kara glanced from the strip of bacon to Alex a few more times before finally conceding, snatching the bacon strip, and taking a bite. She was munching happily until she seemed to spot something across the mess hall and froze in place. Alex gave Kara a curious look and followed her sister's gaze. It was then that she also spotted Maggie making her way towards them, carrying her own breakfast tray.

Alex spun back around abruptly, suddenly sitting up very straight. She took a bite of her eggs, trying to look natural, as Kara resumed devouring her bacon strip.

Maggie sat down heavily next to Kara and placed her tray on the table. "So," she said, wasting no time, "Danvers was it?"

Kara swallowed, her eyes darting around for a moment in search of rescue. Unfortunately, Winn did not seem to be in the mess hall at present. Maggie seemed to realize what Kara was doing because she said, "I thought we could talk for a few minutes, just us."

"Uh, ok," Kara said nervously, "What did you want to talk about?"

"Just wanted to get to know you two a little better. Winn said you were both former members of the DEO?" she asked. Her voice was sweet and innocent but Kara and Alex both knew her too well not to hear the dangerous edge behind it.

Alex still seemed too gobsmacked by her ex's sudden appearance at the breakfast table to form full sentences, so Kara answered. "Yeah, that's right. We both worked there before uh, before everything happened," she stammered.

"And what did you do there?" Maggie asked.

"Field agents," it was Alex who answered this time. She seemed to be regaining her composure.

"Ah, that must have been interesting," Maggie said, "You know, the NCPD worked with the DEO for a little while in the beginning, before Supergirl destroyed it, that is. I think I met the director at one point. What was his name again?"

"Hank Henshaw," Alex answered without missing a beat. She'd seen Maggie interrogate suspects countless times before. She was more than familiar enough with her methods to realize that Maggie was trying to uncover holes in their story.

"Right, right, that was it," she said, face betraying no sign of whether she'd expected them to know the answer to that question or not. "So how did you two find out about what we do here?"

Alex and Kara's eyes met for the briefest of seconds, but they looked away almost immediately to avoid appearing suspicious. Kara fielded this question. "We uh, we've been doing some fighting back of our own. We saw some of the DEO members one time we were um, fighting Supergirl."

Alex did a mental face palm. Kara was possibly the worst liar on any of the known earths and she could tell from the smirk on Maggie's face that the former detective had smelled blood in the water.

"Fighting Supergirl huh?" she said, "That's pretty admirable. You must have some pretty high tech weaponry to show us then."

Kara glanced towards Alex again as though begging her sister to come up with a suitable response to this, but Alex was at a loss as well. Maggie seemed to take the beat of silence that passed between them as some sort of confirmation.

"Listen," she said, dropping all pretense, "I know there's something the three of you aren't telling me. This is all just a little too convenient. Now I trust Schott, but I don't know anything about you two and if I get even one whiff of any kind of funny business," at this she picked up a piece of bacon from her plate and snapped it in half, "I will end you. That all clear?" she asked, popping one of the pieces of bacon into her mouth as she stared Kara and Alex down.

Alex just stared back at her, but Kara swallowed hard and gave a couple of nods. Seemingly satisfied with this, Maggie picked up her tray and sauntered back across the hall.

After a moment Kara turned back to Alex and said, "Geez, I'd forgotten how scary Maggie can be when she wants to."

Alex was pushing the remains of her breakfast around her plate. "I haven't," she said miserably.

As they were leaving the mess hall a few minutes later they ran into Winn, who appeared to have been waiting outside so he could pretend to run into them as they exited. He motioned for them to follow him and then ushered them into the same small office where he'd explained everything to them the night before.

"How're you two holding up?" he asked, shutting the door behind them.

"Well we could have done without the interrogation at breakfast," Alex responded.

At Winn's confused expression, Kara explained, "Maggie didn't exactly buy your 'great big coincidence' explanation for how we ended up here."

Winn nodded at this. "Yeah," he said, "I figured Maggie was probably too smart and too suspicious to leave it at that. She's pretty much my second in command around here though, and she trusts my judgment, so as long as you two lay low and don't give her any reason to distrust you she shouldn't give you any trouble."

Alex let out a slightly bitter laugh. "We'll see about that, I guess," she said.

Winn gave Alex a strange look. Kara placed a hand to the side of her mouth as though telling a secret and said in a whisper, "They used to date on our earth."

At this, Alex glared daggers at her sister as Winn's left eye went as wide as a saucer. "Wait, you and Maggie? So you- you're-"

Alex sighed. "Gay. Yes."

Winn just blinked at her for a moment and said, "Huh, guess you learn something new every day."

"Can we just focus on saving the world here please," Alex said sharply.

"Right, uh, yes," Winn said, clearing his throat, "So we're working on sealing off one of our lead lined rooms for Alex to be able to work on the red kryptonite cure without you being in danger of exposure."

"You line a lot of things in lead these days don't you?" Alex said.

"Yeah well, in order to stay alive you'll find we've lined most things with either lead or kryptonite," Winn responded.

"Or both," Kara added, remembering what Winn had told her about the underground base's composition just this morning.

"Right," Winn said, nodding in Kara's direction. "Anyway we should have that set up by the end of the day, but for now I think we should still have you help with the supply distribution, just to be on the safe side. After today it'll be difficult to find excuses for you to leave the base every time we need to tinker with the red K."

"Wait you're going to send her out there?" Alex protested, "By herself?"

"She won't be by herself, she'll be with several other DEO agents," Winn responded.

"Yeah and what's she supposed to do if something goes wrong? You're the one who said she can't reveal herself," Alex said.

"Guys, standing right here," Kara said, obviously irritated at having them discuss her as though she weren't present. "I'll be fine Alex," she said, addressing her sister, "I'll keep a low profile."

Winn nodded. "Right, I'll be giving you a full suit of armor to wear, and yes it is lead lined," he added, seeing that Alex was about to open her mouth. "Keep that on at all times and don't take the helmet off no matter what, especially not if she shows up."

"Wait," Alex interrupted, "Are you telling me there's a chance that this world's Supergirl could show up during this supply run that you want to send my sister on?"

Winn sighed. "Yeah look, unfortunately it's a very high possibility. Destroying supply trucks is one of her favorite pastimes. She likes to hit us where it hurts. We try to keep a low profile and sometimes we can get it done without alerting her, but more often than not she does tend to show up."

"Then we absolutely cannot send Kara out there," Alex argued, "Aren't you the one who said the most dangerous thing would be for Kara to be found out?"

"No," Winn replied, "the most dangerous thing would be for Kara to be infected, which is unfortunately a very real possibility if she stays here before we can get the red kryptonite locked down. I know this is a risk but unfortunately it's one we have to take. As long as Kara keeps her helmet on and her head down the risk of discovery should be minimal."

Alex was fuming and about to say something else when Kara laid a hand on her shoulder. Alex turned to face her sister. "It's okay Alex," Kara said, "I'll be careful."

Alex deflated at this, sensing that she'd already lost the fight. "Fine," she snapped, "But don't come crying to me if you get yourself killed."

"One other thing," Winn said, "Don't let on to Lena Luthor in any way that you're anything other than human. The woman hates aliens with a very strong passion. If she finds out that you're an alien she will definitely mistrust you, and if she finds out that you're Supergirl she won't hesitate to kill you."

Kara gulped. She knew Lena's intelligence and drive made her a formidable ally on her earth. She didn't want to find out what Lena would be capable of as an enemy.

Kara and Alex jumped as a loud alarm started blaring throughout the base. "Ah, speak of the devil," Winn shouted above the noise. He motioned for Kara and Alex to follow him and the three headed back to the main control room.

There were red lights flashing here, and the alarms were sounding even louder than they had been in the back office. Kara winced and had to resist the urge to cover her ears, but a moment later the noise stopped. There was the sound of gears in operation followed by the sound of four vehicles entering the underground garage.

A large number of DEO employees had begun to gather in the control room now, all crowding into the small space. A moment later Lena Luthor strolled in, flanked by four tall men all in armor much nicer than the cobbled suits the DEO members wore. They each carried one of the same Kryptonite blasters that Kara had become acquainted with the day before.

"Alright Schott, I'm here" she said, catching sight of Winn where he'd stepped forward to meet her, "Now want to tell me what the hell is going on?"


End file.
